You don't have to travel the world to be a traveler

About Kev

Hello All!

Welcome to the about Kev page. I am Kevin “Kev” Monteith here a traveler, travel coach, and blogger. I am here to help you start an adventure or help improve your travel.

Quick Bio

In 2012 I started my love of train travel when I road my first Amtrak train 63 miles from the Sturtevant Depot to Chicago Union Station.

With a few more rides aboard the Hiawatha under my belt, I decided in February 2013 to plan a long-distance train adventure. That month I booked my hotel reservations and round trip tickets aboard the California Zephyr, to San Francisco, CA, for the following March. My trip to California rekindled the wanderlust bug that was dormant in my soul. When I was younger, I took several road trips around the upper midwest and Canada.

How this site came about

When I started my planning my first trip, I had a lot of questions, and find quality answers was hard. Amtrak’s website answered most of the problems, but there were still topics I wanted to know about that Amtrak did not cover.

I turned to online forums, message boards and Facebook groups. These groupers were handy at times but not always friendly. Often the “old pros” didn’t appreciate the newbie questions and the negative trolls often who often crawled out from under the internet bridges they hide under waiting to jump on their next victim.

Now that I have traveled on over 600 Amtrak trains going over 100,000 miles I thought it time to share my knowledge with others and answer their questions in a non-judgmental setting. Feel free to reach out with any questions that you have, and I will do my best to help you.

Because of the frustration I had when I started and pushing from my friends, I developed this site, travelswithkev.com to help you.

I keep growing, so I can keep sharing

I discovered what works for me by doing research and experimenting. Observation of what works for others is helpful as well. I am now a confident traveler but not complacent, for I still tweaking what I do and still learning how to be better.

Later, my parents started traveling to see my sister, and I enjoyed helping them. I enjoyed teaching them train travel and help them with tickets, and I realized I could be doing this with others. Thus, I decided to write a blog, including travel resources and providing a place to ask questions without judgment of others on the internet.

Authority through experience

Looking out the window of an Amtrak Viewiner Roomette.

With over 100,000 rail miles on Amtrak and regional railroads, and thousands of miles by air, I have experienced a few things along the way.

Traveling taught me this lesson: if you look at travel as an adventure and with the attitude “what happens, happens,” you will get more out of your trip and have less stress.

As you travel you, you’ll find plans do not always go as planned. Some people have unrealistic expectations that never can be met and end up disappointed. Our journies, like life, do not necessarily have the results we expect, but our attitudes will determine the outcome. Besides the best stores come from when things go wrong.

Let’s get to know each other

Additionally, if you would like more individualized help, we can discuss personal travel coaching services. Coaching could range from selecting travel gear to helping plan your trip from dream to departure.

Disclaimer:

I do not work for Amtrak.

The views and opinions expressed on this site are my, own and do not reflect those of Amtrak, National Railroad Passenger Corp. For that matter any lodging or other transportation company that I might use or talk about on this site.